Upgrade Planning
About Upgrade planning is the process of replacing a medical device or healthcare technology with an added or newer version of the same medical device. In healthcare electronics, an upgrade is generally a replacement of medical device hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the medical device or system up to date or to improve its characteristics. Why Software Updates are Important The primary reasons why software updates are released are as follows: *Bug fixes – Not all code is perfect. Once a piece of software has been tested by the vendor in question, it is released into the public domain. Problems or bugs are then reported back to the vendors who rewrite bits of the application to resolve those problems. These are then released for download and are called bug fixes. They are important to ensure stable systems. *Security vulnerabilities – Security is a complex topic. In a nutshell, there are people out there who focus on finding security vulnerabilities in software. Vendors will rewrite pieces of code to close any security holes that are brought to their attention. It of paramount importance to ensure that security updates are applied to all software. *Product enhancements – Apart from fixing errors in code and addressing security vulnerabilities, some software updates also include enhancements which may add extra functionality or simply make a specific application run more efficiently. Besides the aforementioned reasons to keep your computer up to date, another important reason is prevent what is known as Software rot. Software rot, (also known as software decay, code decay or software erosion) is a phenomenon whereby a piece of software that is left unchanged will eventually succumb to a loss of functionality or compatibility due to changes in the environment in which is resides.Giancarlo Bravetti. "Why Software Updates are Important" CyberLogic. November 19th, 2010. http://www.cyberlogic.co.za/importance-of-software-updates/ Why Hardware Updates are Important As for hardware, many upgrades are made available to resolve known issues and hardware problems that users have discovered while using the hardware. Additionally, hardware upgrades include new drivers to ensure compatibility with new versions of the operating system. Hardware updates are interchangeable along with software updates as one can only function so long without the other. Take this author's advice if you replace any hardware its best to upgrade its software too. You are welcome! Procedure 1. Perform an inventory of all devices requiring upgrade and collect device data to include make/model, vendor/manufacturer, serial number, software revision, firmware version, and purchase date. 2. Setup a software tracking database if your computer management system does not have this functionality. Your local It department can help you with this. 3. Be cautious holding off too long on system upgrades since this causes many migration issues for the future when the users finally decide to upgrade driving up costs. 4. Consider trans-lateral technology movement across multiple departments who may not have a high patient demand but also have a requirement for replacement. For example, it is cost advantageous to purchase a new mobile AMX4 radiologic device for the medical imaging department and transfer the older mobile radiologic unit to a vet clinic which can replace the vet clinics broken mobile x-ray device. As a clinical engineer, you must know your entire entire medical device inventory and work daily on the long-term upgrade planning to maintain the organizations medical devices. Clinical engineers should begin projecting upgrades between 6 months to 3 years ahead, or have a plan of action to provide continuous upgrades versus replacement. Reference Links Category:Technology Management